Yesterday, GOP Sen. John Cornyn said it was “pretty clear” that sore loser Sen. Lisa “Evita” Murkowski would lose her energy post:

“Senator Murkowski has submitted her resignation by share of the Congress last Friday. There’s also an issue as to whether or not its appropriate for her under the circumstances to continue as ranking member on the energy committee. Both of those issues will be addressed tomorrow afternoon,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican.

Senator John Cornyn, Texas Republican and Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told reporters that “it’s pretty clear” that Senate Republicans will move to vote Ms. Murkowski out of her leadership position on the energy committee.

“I think it’s the appropriate thing to do. When you choose not to accept the judgement of the primary voters and to run as a write-in and not be the Republican nominee, it has consequences,” he said.

Twenty-four short hours later, the Senate Republicans backpedaled faster than circus clowns on a high wire. Via WSJ, Sen. Orrin Hatch said it was a matter of “good taste.”

In a rare triumph for Senate traditionalists in this anti-establishment year, Republicans Wednesday decided not to punish Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) by stripping her of a powerful committee post.

Senate Republicans, angered by Murkowski’s decision to run for re-election as a write-in candidate after losing the Republican primary, met behind closed doors to consider demoting her from her post as top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, a prized perch for her resource-rich state.

But with the committee unlikely to conduct any further business this year and the act seen as largely symbolic, Republicans decided not to add insult to her injury at the hands of Joe Miller, the tea party-backed candidate who beat her in the primary.

“We all respect the system, and she still is a Republican senator,’’ said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah.) after the closed party caucus. “It’s just a matter of good taste. We decided to keep the status quo as long as she’s a senator.’’

If Murkowski somehow let them know that she’d vote Democratic in the lame-duck if they stripped her of Energy seniority — I’m not saying she did, but if — then the caucus should reveal that to the world so that fencesitting Republicans in Alaska know exactly what kind of snake they’re dealing with here. It’s amazing to me that they were promising to boot her yesterday and, 24 hours later, suddenly they’ve reversed themselves and don’t want to talk about it. Spill it.